A Bit Less Traffic Expected This July 4

If you are traveling during the July 4th weekend you may not have to contend with as much traffic as last year.

The American Automobile Association says it expects about 39 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more during the Independence Day weekend. That is a 2.5% decline from last year when more than 40 million people took long trips.

The travel group said higher gasoline prices are the main reason for the decline. The average price of a gallon of regular gas across the U.S. is $3.57, or about 82 cents higher than it was a year ago. While the price has fallen about 40 cents after hovering around $4 per gallon several weeks ago, it is still high — apparently too high for many drivers.

Many analysts and other industry watchers have long said a price of $4 per gallon is the “ceiling” — a point where consumers begin to significantly alter their driving behavior. As it turns out, though, sustained levels over $3.50 may be more than enough to crimp people’s travel budgets.

Still, not everyone is letting pricey gas keep them down. Even though fewer people are expected to travel by car, AAA expects the number of air travelers increase by 9 percent. Over 3 million people are expected to fly during the holiday.

Comments (1 of 1)

For Dan Neil, regarding the article (British, that is) about roundabouts in which he is mentioned: Since my service in Munich in 1955-7 I have driven many thousands of km's in Europe, from Estonia to Malta. I have been for years convinced that roundabouts are far superior to the U.S. system, but due to having locked ourselves in to it, retrofitting to roundabouts is sure to be more expensive than had we started with them after WWII. But thank goodness they are now coming into use!
My name for the U.S. system (you heard it here first, Dan): Left turn... left lane... left light..... left waiting.